Seeing the goodness of God in the letdowns of life

The Book of Ruth is a cameo story of love, devotion, redemption and grace set in the dark context of the days of the Judges. Bible readers know that Ruth was a Moabite who forsakes her Pagan heritage to cling to the God of Israel. Her reward was a new husband (Boaz) and a son (Obed), and the eventual privileged position as great-grandmother to a king (David).
It’s an incredible story that is filled with the message of grace. Behind the scenes, however, is tragedy. The story doesn’t begin with hope and mercy, it starts with hurt and misfortune. A famine has struck the land and a father named Elimelech and his wife Naomi have left Bethlehem and landed in Moab. I will digress to the specifics for now, but it was a bad decision and after 10 years of lingering where they only meant to go temporarily, calamity strikes. Naomi will be forced to do what no person should ever have to do; in a short manner of time she will say goodbye to her beloved husband and no sooner than he is buried, the scripture tells us that both of her sons die. The causes of death are unknown, but what we do know is that this poor wife and mother has endured more than any human should have to experience. Word eventually comes to Moab that God has visited Bethlehem and the crops are growing again. Over a series of conversations, Naomi is going to return home and Ruth has made the choice to go back with her.
I love when the Bible gives us moments to see the big significance in little details. These are moments where seemingly small, insignificant particulars have a large impact or influence on situations or outcomes. It happened at the close of Ruth chapter 1. The Bible says that Naomi and Ruth, “came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.” Not the middle or the end, but the beginning. These poor widows would have found it very difficult to survive in that culture, but we see in the small details that God has their back. God has directed their steps and His attention to meticulous details has landed them in the perfect place at the perfect time. This small fact at the end of the chapter may be clear to us, but in the moment, it wasn’t as easily recognizable for Naomi. She stands before people she once knew, perhaps rightfully so, complaining of the hardships she’s been forced to endure. And she does so standing in a field full of barley that is ripe and ready to be harvested. Isn’t that like God to provide for us, when we don’t deserve it? And isn’t that like us to be complaining when we have so many blessings around us?
Naomi, like many of us, had failed at the moment to see the faithfulness of God. She had endured 10 long years of what felt like an empty life, full of hardship. She had found it easier to file complaints blaming God for the things that had happened than to look around and see the incredible blessings that He had given her! She had left hungry and came home at the ‘beginning of barley harvest.’ If we are not careful, we can be guilty of overlooking the little ways that God has proved his goodness and faithfulness. We miss the blessings when we let the burdens overshadow them. We often forfeit praise because we are focused on the pain.
We all, to some degree or another, experience letdown, hurt, hardship, pain and trials. Truth is, life can be hard. My challenge is to not allow the garden variety of difficulties that are inevitable to eclipse the simple everyday blessings that God has laid right before us. The joy of raising children, the blessing of marriage, the delight of having a church family and the privilege to live in America. More health than sickness, and though maybe not rich, more money than poverty. Running water, electricity, heat in the winter, food to eat, a car to drive, and a family to love, just to name a few. Chances are, you are living in the blessing of your own barley fields, sometimes we just must intentionally open our eyes and see it all around us. When we do, I think we will come to this conclusion: the good is still greater than the bad, the blessings more than the burdens, and that God is good and God is faithful!
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